A daughter often reflects a mother's unhealthy obsession with weight

Jenny Moran, 41, a sales executive in Ocean County, N.J., admits to being obsessed with her weight. But she was shocked when her 3 1/2-year-old daughter suddenly began weighing herself several times a day. "I never thought she was paying attention," Moran says ruefully.

Moran has reason to be concerned. Study after study has found that mothers who are fixated on their body image are more likely to have daughters with eating disorders than less self-conscious moms. Sure, you can blame the media for imposing a parade of surgically enhanced pop icons on your impressionable child, but the real danger to...